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ASRICULTURAL 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  NO.  238 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK   HORSES 
AND  MULES 

BY  J.  L.  EDMONDS  AND  W.  G.  KAMMLADE 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  JANUARY,  1922 


Summary  of  Bulletin  No.  238 

Corn  is  a  good  grain  feed  for  horses  and  mules  doing  farm  work.  In  con- 
tradiction to  the  opinion  sometimes  expressed  that  corn  is  not  good  for  horses 
and  mules,  these  experiments  have  shown  that  sound  ear  corn  properly  fed  with 
legume  roughages  is  a  healthful  and  satisfactory  feed.  For  the  roughage  part 
of  the  ration,  no  common  feeds  are  likely  to  prove  more  desirable  than  good 
quality  legume  hays.  Clover  and  alfalfa  in  particular  may  be  grown  with  the 
assurance  that  they  may  be  fed  both  safely  and  economically  to  farm  work 
animals.  Wherever  they  are  produced  in  the  corn  belt,  they  may  safely  be 
made  the  basic  roughages  for  horses  and  mules. 

Ear  corn  and  alfalfa  hay  alone  are  sufficient  to  maintain  farm  horses  and 
mules  doing  a  considerable  amount  of  medium  to  hard  work.  However,  even 
tho  this  is  true,  our  experience  further  leads  us  to  believe  that  more  satisfactory 
rations  may  be  made  and  perhaps  more  economical  feeding  practiced  when  part 
of  the  alfalfa  or  clover  roughage  is  replaced  with  timothy  hay,  oat  hay,  oat 
straw,  prairie  hay,  or  corn  stover.  The  grain  ration  may  be  improved  in 
variety  and  bulk  by  replacing  about  one-third  of  the  corn  with  oats. 

Farm-grown  feeds  need  no  special  preparation  to  be  successfully  fed  to 
either  horses  or  mules.  No  condiments  or  commercial  mixed  feeds  of  any  kind 
were  used  during  these  tests,  which  covered  a  period  of  three  and  one-half 
years;  and  under  farm  conditions  there  would  be  even  less  occasion  to  use 
prepared  feeds  or  medicinal  mixtures,  for  there  would  be  an  opportunity  to 
use  a  greater  variety  of  feeds  and  to  make  some  use  of  pasture. 

Recommendations  for  feeding  farm  work  stock,  based  on  these  experiments, 
would  be:  To  use  home-grown  feeds.  To  make  legume  hay  an  important  part  of 
the  roughage,  feeding  it  along  with  ear  corn,  or  preferably  ear  corn  and  oats.  And 
as  a  general  rule  to  feed  approximately  one  pound  of  grain  and  one  pound  of 
roughage  per  hundred  pounds  of  live  weight  per  day,  varying  the  amounts  as 
conditions  indicate  by  increasing  the  amount  of  grain  when  the  animals  are  at 
hard  work  and  decreasing  the  grain  and  increasing  the  roughage  when  they  are 
doing  light  work  or  are  idle. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES 
AND  MULES 

BY  J.  L.  EDMONDS,  CHIEF  IN  HORSE  HUSBANDRY,  AND 
W.  G.  KAMMLADE,  ASSOCIATE  IN  ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY 

INTRODUCTION 

More  than  75  percent  of  the  corn  produced  in  Illinois  is  fed  to 
farm  animals.  When  corn  is  used  in  any  feeding  operations,  it  is 
always  recommended  that  it  be  fed  with  feeds  containing  considerable 
protein  and  mineral  matter  in  order  that  the  ration  may  be  properly 
balanced  and  prove  suitable  and  adequate  to  the  needs  of  the  animals. 
Corn  is  superior  to  any  other  common  feed  for  the  production  of 
work.1 

The  growing  appreciation  in  the  corn  belt  of  the  marked  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  legumes  in  crop  rotations  is  resulting 
in  a  steady  increase  in  the  production  of  these  crops.  At  the  present 
time  there  is  no  more  satisfactory  means  of  disposing  of  them  than 
as  feed  for  the  live  stock  on  the  farms  on  which  the  crops  are  grown. 

There  has  been  considerable  opposition  to  the  use  of  corn  and 
skepticism  concerning  its  value  for  farm  work  animals.  Much  of  this 
feeling  may  be  attributed  to  difficulties  resulting  from  improper  feed- 
ing and  much  to  the  unsuitable  character  of  the  corn  which  was  used. 
Legume  hays,  too,  have  not  been  very  generally  used  as  feeds  for 
horses  and  mules  because  they  have  been  thought  to  cause  digestive 
disorders  and  to  reduce  strength  and  endurance. 

OBJECT  OF  EXPERIMENTS 

The  four  experiments  reported  herein  were  undertaken  in  a  small 
way  with  the  equipment  available,  in  order  to  determine  the  prac- 
ticability of  using  corn  and  legume  hays  as  the  basic  feeds  for  farm 
work  horses  and  mules.  The  object  was  to  secure  information  of  value 
to  the  farmer  concerning  the  use  of  rations  composed  largely  or  en- 
tirely of  ear  corn  and  legume  roughages  for  work  stock,  and  to  be  able 
to  give  some  definite  suggestions  regarding  the  amounts  required  and 
methods  of  feeding.  Corn  was  selected  as  the  main  grain  feed  because 
it  is  grown  so  extensively  in  Illinois  and  its  carbonaceous  nature  should 
make  its  use  most  satisfactory  when  it  is  fed  with  protein  roughages. 

Could  these  feeds  form  the  basis  of  suitable  and  economical  ra- 
tions for  farm  work  animals? 


NOTE. — Mr.   J.   J.   Yoke   assisted   in   conducting   these   experiments   until  re- 
signing in  1915. 

*Feeds  and  Feeding,  by  Henry  and  Morrison,  page  285. 

411 


412  BULLETIN  No.  238  [January, 

PLAN 

Animals  Used. — Two  horse  and  two  mule  teams  were  used  in  each 
of  the  experiments.  All  the  animals  were  rugged,  useful  workers. 
The  horses  were  high-grade  drafters.  In  the  first  experiment  a  team 
of  ten-year-old  mares  and  a  team,  of  four-year-old  geldings  were  used. 
In  the  second  experiment  three  five-year-old  geldings  replaced  the 
two  mares  and  one  of  the  geldings  of  the  first  experiment.  In  the 
third  experiment  a  five-year-old  gelding  replaced  one  of  the  geldings 
used  previously.  There  were  no  changes  for  the  fourth  experiment. 
The  average  weight  of  the  horses  in  the  first  experiment  was  approxi- 
mately 1,500  pounds;  in  the  second  1,560  pounds;  and  in  the  third 
and  the  fourth  experiments  about  1,640  pounds. 

The  same  mules  were  used  thruout  the  four  experiments.  They 
were  a  pair  of  mare  mules  and  a  pair  of  horse  mules  five  and  six 
years  old  respectively  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  experiment.  Their 
average  weight  was  a  little  more  than  1,350  pounds.  On  the  market 
they  would  have  classed  as  draft  mules.. 

Method  of  Feeding. — The  horses  and  mules  were  fed  the  same 
kinds  and  quality  of  feed;  each  animal  received  as  much  grain  and 
hay,  weighed  separately,  as  it  would  eat  readily.  It  seldom  happened 
that  any  feed  was  left,  but  when  this  did  occur  the  amount  given  was 
reduced  in  subsequent  feedings  so  that  there  was  no  waste.  The  grain 
was  fed  in  three  equal  amounts  each  day.  One-half  of  the  hay  ration 
was  divided  between  the  morning  and  noon  feeds,  and  the  other  half 
was  fed  at  night.  On  Sundays  and  other  idle  days  the  grain  was 
reduced  at  least  one-third. 

All  the  feeds  used  in  these  experiments  were  home-grown  and  of 
choice  quality. 

Water  was  given  in  the  morning  after  feeding,  before  and  after 
the  noon  feeding,  before  the  evening  feeding,  and  again  at  nine 
o'clock  at  night.  This  last  drink  was  very  refreshing  to  the  animals, 
especially  during  warm  weather. 

Stabling — The  animals  were  kept  in  a  light,  well-ventilated  stable 
equipped  with  standing  stalls  having  concrete  floors.  Shavings  were 
used  for  bedding  because  they  would  not  be  eaten.  Because  of  the 
lack  of  suitable  yards  and  because  the  mules  were  shod  thruout  the 
year,  the  animals  were  not  turned  together  as  is  commonly  done.  In- 
dividuals were  allowed  a  few  hours  exercise  in  a  small  dry  lot  on  all 
idle  days. 

Nature  of  Work. — All  teams  were  used  regularly  in  doing  farm 
work  and  general  teaming.  The  farm  work  consisted  for  the  most 
part  of  the  tilling  of  small  fields ;  in  addition  a  number  of  acre  plots 
were  tilled.  A  considerably  larger  proportion  of  the  work  consisted 
of  heavier  hauling  than  is  the  case  on  most  farms.  Loads  amounting 


19&&]  FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HOUSES  AND  MULES  413 

to  three  tons  net  weight  per  team  were  frequently  drawn  from  town 
to  the  University  stock  barns,  a  distance  of  about  two  miles. 

Records. — Records  were  kept  of  the  weights  of  the  animals,  the 
amounts  of  feeds  consumed,  the  number  of  hours  of  labor  performed, 
and  the  distances  traveled. 

Weighings  were  made  before  watering  on  one  morning  of  every 
week  during  the  experiments.  The  mileage  records  of  the  first  and 
second  trials  are  for  the  most  part  close  estimates  computed  from  field 
measurements,  tho  in  some  cases  the  distances  traveled  were  measured 
by  means  of  an  odometer  on  a  two-wheeled  cart.  No  mileage  records 
were  secured  in  the  third  experiment.  In  the  fourth  experiment  small 
two-wheeled  carts,  equipped  with  odometers,  were  attached  to  all  the 
implements  and  wagons  to  which  the  horses  and  mules  were  hitched. 

DISCUSSION  OF  RESULTS  WITH  HORSES 
THE  1912  EXPERIMENT 

In  the  first  experiment  clover  hay  was  fed  with  a  grain  ration 
consisting  of  two-thirds  ear  corn  and  one-third  oats  by  weight.  The 
spirit  and  appearance,  and  weights  and  gains  of  the  animals  during 
the  experiment  showed  the  clover  to  be  a  very  satisfactory  roughage. 

It  will  be  noted  from  Table  1  that  the  amounts  of  grain  fed  were 
rather  high.  While  the  feed  costs  could  have  been  reduced  by  feed- 
ing a  little  less  grain  and  more  hay,  it  is  probable  that  the  gains  would 
have  been  less.  The  good  results  in  feeding  clover  hay  were  doubt- 
less largely  due  to  the  use  of  clover  of  first  quality  and  to  the  limit- 
ing of  the  amount  fed  to  about  one  pound  per  hundredweight  per 
day.  The  fact  that  the  trial  was  of  364  days'  duration  would  indi- 
cate that  the  ration  used  might  be  safely  and  satisfactorily  employed 
over  a  long  period  of  time  with  farm  work  horses  in  general.  The 
results  of  this  experiment  are  similar  to  those  of  previous  experiments 
reported  by  this  Station,  which  have  demonstrated  clover  hay  to  be  a 
suitable  feed  for  work  horses.1  Ear  corn  and  oats  make  a  good  grain 
ration  to  feed  with  clover  hay. 

It  is  worth  while  to  call  attention  to  the  feeding  standard  for 
work  horses  as  shown  by  the  Modified  Wolff-Lehmann  Standards.2 
According  to  this  standard,  horses  weighing  approximately  1,500 
pounds,  doing  medium  work,  require  in  their  ration  from  24  to  36 
pounds  of  dry  matter  per  day ;  2.10  to  2.55  pounds  of  digestible  crude 
protein ;  19.2  to  23.4  pounds  of  total  digestible  nutrients ;  and  the  ra- 
tion should  have  a  nutritive  ratio  of  1 :7.8  to  8.3 ;  that  is,  for  every 
pound  of  digestible  crude  protein  there  should  be  about  eight  pounds 
of  carbohydrates  and  fat  equivalent.  (In  calculating  the  nutritive 

1  See  Bulletin  150,  Feeding  Farm  Work  Horses,  by  E.  C.  Obrecht,  August,  1911. 

2  Feeds  and  Feeding,  by  Henry  and  Morrison,  page  671. 


414 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


[January, 


TABLE  1. — SUMMARY  OF  FEEDING  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  FARM  WORK  HORSES 

Showing  Rations  Fed  and  Average  Weight,  Feed  Consumption,  and  Work 

per  Horse 


1  Grain  

1912 

1913 

1914-15 

1916-17 

Ear  corn  % 
Oats  % 

Ear  corn  % 
Oats   % 

Ear  corn  % 
Oats  % 

Ear  corn 

Ration  ^ 
Roughage  

Clover  hay 

Clover  % 
Timothy  ^ 

Alfalfa  or 
Alfalfa  Y2 
Timothy  ^ 

Alfalfa  hay 

Length  of  trial,  days  

364 

1445 
1585 
+140 
1497 

4400 
2200 
6600 
18.13 
1.21 

5251 
14.43 
.96 

2503 
8.02 
28 

2782 
1.11 

140 

1578 
1566 
—12 
1564 

1503 
752 
2255 
16.11 
1.03 

2044 
14.60 
.93 

990 
8.25 
17 

1259 
1.27 

364 

1621 
1626 
+6 
1639 

4376 
2188 
6564 
18.03 
1.10 

6164 
16.93 
1.03 

2517 
8.07 
33 

0) 
0) 

364 

1636 
1666 
+30 
1639 

5470 

Weight: 
Av.weight  at  beginning,  Ibs. 
Av.  weight  at  close  

Gain  or  loss  

Av.  weight  during  trial  

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  

Total  oats  eaten  . 

Total  grain  eaten  

5470 
15.77 
.96 

6823 
18.75 
1.14 

2517 
8.07 
29.5 

2960 
1.18 

Av.  grain  per  day  

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  /6s  

Av.  hay  per  day  

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  of  labor  

Av.  hours  per  work  day  
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

Av.  miles  per  hour  

NOTE: — Records  of  each  individual  may  be  found  in  the  tables  in  the  Appen- 
dix, pages  424-427. 

'No  records  were  obtained  during  the  1914-15  experiment. 

ratio,  the  fat  is  multiplied  by  214  in  order  to  give  its  energy  value  in 
terms  of  carbohydrates.) 

"While  no  attempt  was  made  to  feed  these  horses  according  to  this 
standard,  the  ration  fed  did  correspond  quite  closely  with  these  re- 
quirements. It  supplied  approximately  26.70  pounds  of  dry  matter ; 
2.41  pounds  of  digestible  crude  protein;  and  19.88  pounds  of  total 
digestible  nutrients ;  and  had  a  nutritive  ratio  of  1  C7.25.1  The  re- 
sults secured  with  this  ration  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Modified 
Wolff -Lehmann  Standard  is  a  reliable  guide  for  feeding  work  horses. 

The  labor  record  of  8.02  hours  per  horse  per  work  day  may  be 
considered  very  good,  for  the  hours  of  labor  usually  given  as  the 


^Computed  from  the  nutrient  composition  of  feeds  as  given  by  the  above 
authorities,  pages  653-666  of  Feeds  and  Feeding. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES  415 

average  for  farm  horses  is  about  3.5  per  work  day.  (The  number  of 
work  days  is  calculated  by  deducting  Sundays ;  hence,  there  are  312 
in  a  year.) 

The  mileage  record  is  only  approximately  correct,  as  the  distances 
were  frequently  closely  estimated  rather  than  accurately  measured. 
It  is  a  very  close  estimate,  however,  and  shows  what  may  be  accom- 
plished with  farm  work  horses  if  they  are  used  to  the  best  advantage 
in  a  system  of  diversified  farming. 

THE  1913  EXPERIMENT 

The  1913  experiment,  also  reported  in  Table  1,  included  a  period 
of  but  140  days  and  on  this  account  the  data  cannot  have  the  same 
value  as  those  for  the  other  three  tests,  which  covered  364  days  each. 
This  experiment  does,  however,  include  the  period  of  rush  work  on 
the  farm — April  27  to  September  14. 

The  ration  fed — two-thirds  ear  corn,  one-third  oats,  by  weight, 
and  mixed  hay  (clover  y2  and  timothy  y2 ) — was  satisfactory  so  far 
as  the  character  of  the  feeds  was  concerned,  and  doubtless  there  is 
some  advantage  in  using  a  variety  of  feeds.  The  amounts  fed,  how- 
ever, were  not  sufficient  to  maintain  the  average  initial  weight  of  the 
horses,  as  is  shown  by  the  loss  in  weight  at  the  end  of  the  experiment 
and  by  the  average  weight  during  the  experiment,  which  was  less 
than  either  the  initial  or  the  final  weight. 

The  nutrients  supplied  in  this  ration  are  about  the  minimum  or 
a  little  less  than  the  minimum  requirements  given  by  the  Modified 
Wolff-Lehmann  Standard  for  a  1,600-pound  horse  doing  medium  work. 
These  horses  were  doing  hard  work,  so  that  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  ration  was  not  sufficient  to  maintain  their  weights.  If  the  same 
feeds  were  used,  but  in  larger  amounts  than  in  this  trial,  there  would 
seem  to  be  no  reason  why  the  ration  should  not  be  found  entirely 
satisfactory  for  farm  work  horses  for  use  over  a  long  period. 

The  horses  worked  an  average  of  8.25  hours  per  work  day.  Both 
the  labor  record  and  the  number  of  miles  traveled  were  considerably 
reduced  in  this  test  by  the  record  of  one  horse.  Three  of  the  horses 
worked  an  average  of  almost  8.75  hours  per  work  day  and  traveled 
more  than  1,300  miles  each.  The  fourth  horse  was  susceptible  to 
frequent  attacks  of  colic  and  averaged  about  two  hours  less  work 
per  work  day  and  traveled  300  miles  less  than  the  other  three.  This 
fact,  of  course,  resulted  in  a  reduction  in  the  average  labor  and  mile- 
age records,  which  even  with  this  reduction  are  exceptionally  good. 

THE  1914-15  EXPERIMENT 

The  grain  feeds  in  the  1914-15  experiment  were  the  same  and  were 
fed  in  the  same  proportions  as  in  the  two  previous  experiments.  One 
horse  in  each  team  was  fed  alfalfa  hay,  and  the  other  horse,  alfalfa 


416  BULLETIN  No.  238  [January, 

1/2  and  timothy  y2.  However,  there  was  so  little  variation  in  the 
amounts  of  grain  and  hay  consumed  and  the  number  of  animals  was 
so  small  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  a  definite  comparison  of  the 
two  hay  rations. 

The  alfalfa  hay  proved  a  palatable  and  healthful  feed,  causing 
no  functional  disturbances,  digestive  or  otherwise.  It  was  well  cured 
and  sound  but  was  rather  brown  and  stemmy.  The  fact  that  equal 
amounts  of  alfalfa  and  timothy  in  the  ration  proved  so  successful 
would  indicate  that  if  alfalfa  is  high  in  price  it  might  be  advisable 
to  replace  part  of  it  with  timothy.  It  might  also  be  profitable  to 
substitute  other  carbonaceous  roughages,  such  as  corn  stover  or  oat 
straw,  for  the  timothy  in  this  ration  and  secure  good  results  and  a 
reduction  in  costs. 

While  the  alfalfa,  ear  corn,  and  oats  made  a  good  ration,  the  re- 
quirements of  these  horses — whose  weights  averaged  about  1,640 
pounds  and  who  were  doing  medium  work — were,  in  some  particulars, 
more  closely  met  by  the  alfalfa,  timothy,  ear  corn,  and  oats  ration. 
The  following  tabulation  shows  the  Modified  Wolff -Lehmann  Stand- 
ard for  1,640-pound  horses  at  medium  work  and  the  nutrients  sup- 
plied per  day  by  the  rations  used  in  this  experiment. 

Dry  matter       Digestible        Total  digest-     Nutritive 
Ibs.  crude  protein    ible  nutrients         ratio 

Ibs.  Ibs. 

Kequired  by  Modified 

Wolff  -Lehmann  Standard...  26.24-39.36        2.29-2.79        20.99-25.58        1:7.8-8.3 
Supplied  by  the  ration  of — 
Alfalfa,  ear  corn,  and  oats 

(average  for  2  horses) 29.58  3.10  21.22  1:6.0 

Alfalfa,  timothy,  ear  corn 
and  oats  (average  for  2 
horses) 29.19  2.45  20.S9  1 : 7.6 

These  figures  show  that  the  timothy  reduced  the  supply  of  pro- 
tein to  a  little  nearer  the  average  requirements  and  thus  gave  a  wider 
nutritive  ratio.  Under  farm  conditions  it  is  probably  best  to  feed 
alfalfa  as  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  roughage  ration  rather  than 
as  the  sole  roughage.  An  over  supply  of  protein  may  not  be  injurious, 
lut  as  protein  is  frequently  the  most  expensive  nutrient  in  the  ration 
it  is  of  advantage,  in  preventing  excessive  cost  of  feed,  to  keep  the 
supply  of  protein  down  to  the  requirement. 

The  average  gain  in  weight  (6  pounds)  was  entirely  due  to  a 
gain  of  75  pounds  by  one  horse.  Two  of  the  horses  lost  25  pounds 
each  and  the  fourth  neither  gained  nor  lost. 

The  labor  record  of  8.07  hours  per  horse  per  work  day  was  a  little 
better  than  the  record  in  1912  of  8.02  hours.  No  mileage  data  were 
obtained  in  this  trial. 


1922]  FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES  417 

THE  1916-17  EXPERIMENT 

The  1916-17  experiment  is  probably  the  most  important  of  this 
series  of  tests,  particularly  because  of  the  fact  that  thruout  an  entire 
year  only  two  feeds  were  used  in  maintaining  the  work  horses,  and 
furthermore  because  of  the  fact  that  these  two  feeds  are  rather  com- 
monly considered,  at  least  in  some  sections,  as  poor  feeds  for  horses. 
For  364  days  the  horses  in  this  test  were  given  only  ear  corn  and 
alfalfa  hay,  and  during  most  of  this  time  they  worked  at  farm  work 
and  general  teaming  that  would  class  as  medium  to  hard  work.  The 
data  are  presented  in  Table  1. 

As  the  figures  show  a  good  weight  for  the  horses  during  the  ex- 
periment and  an  average  gain  of  30  pounds  over  their  initial  weight, 
the  ration  must  be  considered  a  success  from  the  standpoint  of  being 
sufficient  to  maintain  weight.  Observations  of  the  health,  condition, 
thrift,  and  spirit  of  the  animals  also  showed  the  ration  to  be  success- 
ful. The  chief  criticism  would  be  that  the  lack  of  variety  in  the  ra- 
tion caused  some  decrease  in  appetite,  and  hence  the  horses  were 
lacking  in  an  extremely  sleek  appearance,  particularly  just  before 
the  close  of  the  test.  It  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  that 
the  summer  of  1916,  during  which  this  experiment  was  conducted, 
was  so  hot  and  dry  as  to  be  a  severe  test  for  any  system  of  feeding. 

The  average  consumption  of  ear  corn  per  hundredweight  per  day 
v/as  a  little  under  one  pound,  and  the  daily  consumption  of  alfalfa 
hay  was  only  1.14  pounds  per  hundredweight.  The  use  of  alfalfa 
hay  evidently  reduced  the  grain  requirement.  The  alfalfa  used  in 
this  test  had  been  in  the  barn  a  year,  was  well  cured,  sound,  and  was 
not  so  leafy  as  choice  pea-green  hay.  The  advantage  of  using  a 
nutritious  roughage  is  apparent  when  feed  costs  are  considered,  par- 
ticularly if  grains  are  high  in  price. 

This  ration  supplied  approximately  28.43  pounds  of  dry  matter, 
2.93  pounds  of  digestible  crude  protein,  and  20.50  pounds  of  total 
digestible  nutrients.  The  amount  of  total  digestible  nutrients  corre- 
sponds closely  to  the  Modified  Wolff-Lehmann  Standard.  However, 
the  amount  of  protein  supplied  was  somewhat  in  excess  of  the  require- 
ment, and  for  this  reason  the  nutritive  ratio  was  narrower  than  it 
needed  to  be. 

While  these  two  feeds  contained  an  abundance  of  nutrients  and 
were  successfully  used  in  this  experiment,  they  would  not  be  consid- 
ered the  most  desirable  combination  for  feeding  farm  work  horses  for 
a  whole  year  or  longer  where  conditions  made  it  possible  to  use  a 
greater  variety  of  feeding  stuffs  and  possibly  make  some  use  of 
pasture  at  night  and  on  idle  days  during  the  summer.  Under  farm 
conditions  some  oats  might  be  fed  with  the  corn,  and  some  carbona- 
ceous roughage,  such  as  timothy,  prairie  hay,  oat  hay,  oat  straw,  or 


418 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


[January, 


FIG.  1. — FOUR  OF  THE  HORSES  USED  IN  THE  EXPERIMENTS 

The  condition,  appearance,  spirit,  and  weights  of  these  horses  would  seem  to 
demonstrate  that  ear  corn  and  good  legume  hays  are  very  satisfactory  basic  feeds 
for  farm  work  horses.  The  pictures  show  the  horses  near  the  close  of  the  last 
experiment.  Nos.  91,  87,  and  90  were  used  in  the  last  three  experiments;  No.  95 
in  the  last  two  only. 

corn  stover,  might  well  form  at  least  one-third  of  the  roughage.  These 
substitutions  would  usually  result  in  a  reduction  of  feed  costs  and 
the  ration  would  undoubtedly  be  improved  thru  the  use  of  a  variety 
of  feeds.  However,  ear  corn  and  alfalfa  hay  may  be  used  to  a  rather 
large  extent  in  making  up  rations  for  work  horses.  They  are  highly 
desirable  feeds,  both  because  of  their  nutritive  value  and  because  of 
their  suitability  for  the  best  corn-belt  cropping  practices. 

The  labor  record  of  8.07  hours  per  horse  per  work  day  is  very 
good  and  would  have  been  better  had  it  not  been  for  a  shortage  of 
teamsters  during  part  of  October  and  November,  which  reduced  the 
use  of  the  horses.  The  record  of  the  distances  traveled  is  accurate  in 
this  experiment,  the  measurements  having  been  made  by  means  of 
odometers  on  small  carts  attached  to  all  the  implements  to  which  the 
horses  were  worked. 


1988] 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES 


419 


COST  OP  FEED 

The  cost  of  feed  is  usually  estimated  as  amounting  to  about  75 
percent  of  the  entire  cost  of  the  keep  of  horses,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
places  where  the  man  who  owns  horses  may  well  attempt  to  reduce 
his  operating  expense.  As  a  help  in  this  direction  Table  2  is  pre- 
sented showing  the  average  total  and  daily  cost  of  feed  as  based  on 
four  different  sets  of  feed  prices  for  each  of  the  four  different  rations 
used. 

In  this  table  total  feed  consumption  will  be  found  expressed  in 
bushels  and  tons  also,  so  that  anyone  can  easily  figure  for  himself  the 
cost  at  prices  prevailing  in  his  community  and  thus  arrive  at  figures 
of  more  value  to  him. 

The  1913  experiment  shows  the  lowest  feed  cost  per  day,  but  it 
should  be  remembered  that  the  horses  in  this  experiment  were  not 
fed  sufficient  amounts  to  prevent  losses  in  weight. 


TABLE  2. — AVERAGE  TOTAL  AND  DAILY  COST  OF  FEED  FOR  FARM  WORK  HORSES 
BASED  ON  VARIOUS  PRICES 

(For  feed  prices  see  bottom  of  page) 


1912:     364  days 
Ear  corn  

62.86bu. 

A 

$35.20 

B 

$40.86 

C 

$31.43 

D 

$62  .  86 

Oats  

68.75bu. 

27.50 

27.50 

22.00 

41.25 

Clover  

2.63  tons 

31.56 

36.82 

26.30 

42.08 

Total  cost  

$94.26 

$105.18 

$79.73 

$146.19 

Cost  per  day  

.258 

.289 

.219 

.402 

1913:     140  days 
Ear  corn  

21.47bu. 

A 

$12.03 

B 

$13.96 

C 

$10.74 

D 

$21.47 

Oats         

23  .  50  bu. 

9.40 

9.40 

7.52 

14.10 

Clover  

.51  ton 

6.13 

7.14 

5.10 

8.16 

Timothy  

.51  ton 

8.16 

7.14 

5.10 

8.16 

Total  cost    

$35  .  72 

$37.64 

$28.46 

$51  89 

Cost  per  day  

.255 

.269 

.203 

.371 

1914-15:     364  days 
Ear  corn  

62.51  bu. 

A 
$35.01 

B 

$40.63 

C 

$31.26 

D 

$62  51 

Oats  

68.37  bu. 

27.36 

27.36 

21.88 

41.02 

Alfalfa  and  timothy.  . 

3  .  08  tons 

49.28 

43.12 

36.96 

49.28 

Total  cost       

$111.65 

$111.11 

$90  10 

$152  81 

Cost  per  day  

.306 

305 

.248 

.420 

1916-17:     364  days 
Ear  corn    

82.00bu. 

A 

$45  .  92 

B 

$53  .  30 

C 

$41.00 

D 

$82  00 

Alfalfa  

3.41  tons 

54.56 

47.74 

40.92 

54.56 

Total  cost  

$100.48 

$101.04 

$81  .  92 

$136  56 

Cost  per  day  

276 

.277 

225 

375 

Feed  Prices:                                                                         A  B                     C  D 

Corn,  per  bushel $    .56  $    .65  $    .50  $1.00 

Oats,  per  bushel 40  .40                    .32  .60 

Clover,  per  ton _ 12.00  14.00  10.00  16.00 

Timothy,  per  ton 16.00  14.00  lO.OOi  16.00 

Alfalfa,  per  ton _ -.       16.00  14.00  12.00  16.00 

iln  the  1914-15  trial  the  timothy  and  alfalfa  were  figured  at  the  same  price  per  ton. 


420 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


[January, 


DISCUSSION  OF  RESULTS  WITH  MULES 

The  results  of  the  experiments  with  mules  will  not  be  discussed 
separately  in  as  much  detail  as  the  experiments  with  the  horses  since 
the  same  rations  were  used  as  for  the  horses  and  the  remarks  concern- 
ing the  horses  will  apply  here  also.  The  recommendations  for  im- 
proving the  rations  for  horses  might  also  be  made  for  improving  the 
rations  for  mules. 

The  Modified  Wolff -Lehmann  Standards  contain  no  table  of  re- 
quirements for  mules.  For  the  following  tabulation  the  mule's  re- 
quirements are  assumed  to  be  the  same  as  the  requirements  for  horses 
of  the  same  weight.  This  may  or  may  not  be  correct;  at  best  it  is 
an  assumption  and  is  not  based  on  definite  established  knowledge.  It 
is  used,  however,  because  there  is  apparently  no  other  standard  adapted 
for  the  purpose.  (The  amounts  given  are  based  on  the  average  daily 
ration.) 


Digestible       ,  '  Total 


Dry  matter 

Ibs. 
Requirements   for   1,360-lb. 

horse  at  medium  work 21.76-32.64 

Supplied  by  a  ration  of — 

Ear  corn,  oats;  clover  (1912)..     22.84 
Ear  corn,  oats ;    clover  */>  and 

timothy  V2   (1913) 19.56 

Ear  corn,  oats ;    alfalfa  (1914- 

15)    (average  for  2  mules) .  .      22.71 
Ear  corn,  oats ;    alfalfa  ^  and 
timothy  %   (1914-15)    (aver- 
age for  2  mules) 22.75 

Ear  corn;    alfalfa   (1916-17) ..      23.22 


crude 

protein 

Ibs. 


digestible 

nutrients 

Ibs. 


17.41-2. 


2.05 


1.48 
2.40 


1.90 
2.43 


16'.69 


14.08 
16.12 


16.11 
16.35 


Nutritive 
ratio 


1:7.1 
1:8.5 


1:5.7 


7.5 

5.73 


The  1912  ration  of  ear  corn,  oats,  and  clover  hay,  and  the  1914-15 
ration  of  ear  corn,  oats,  alfalfa  y2  and  timothy  y2  more  nearly  sup- 
plied the  requirements  of  the  mules,  according  to  this  tabulation, 
than  did  any  of  the  other  rations.  This  was  also  the  observation  made 
during  the  progress  of  these  experiments.  The  figures  show,  too,  that 
the  nutrients  supplied  in  1913  were  about  in  the  proper  proportion 
but  wrere  insufficient  in  amount  even  for  mules  doing  medium  work, 
and  the  work  which  these  mules  did  during  the  test  would  be  classed 
as  hard  work.  The  insufficiency  of  the  ration,  so  far  as  amount  sup- 
plied is  concerned,  is  further  shown  in  Table  3  by  the  loss  of  weight 
by  the  mules.  Only  in  this  one  particular  was  this  ration  at  all  un- 
satisfactory. The  feeds  used  in  this  trial,  so  far  as  their  character 
is  concerned,  are  suitable  for  mules  at  medium  or  hard  work. 

The  ear  corn  and  alfalfa  used  in  the  1916-17  experiment  were 
ample  to  maintain  the  weights  of  the  animals  and  to  supply  energy 


19SS] 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES 


421 


FIG.  2. — THE  FOUR  MULES  USED  IN  THE  EXPERIMENTS 

These  mules  were  used  in  all  experiments  reported  in  this  bulletin.  Rations 
composed  largely  of  ear  corn  and  legume  hays  kept  them  in  good  condition  while 
doing  medium  to  hard  work.  The  pictures  were  taken  near  the  close  of  the  last 
experiment. 

for  them  to  do  considerable  work.  The  supply  of  protein  was  larger 
than  necessary  and  the  nutritive  ratio  was  too  narrow.  This  could 
have  been  remedied  by  the  use  of  some  roughage  that  contained  less 
protein,  such  as  timothy  hay  or  oat  straw,  in  place  of  about  one-third 
or  one-half  of  the  alfalfa. 

In  general,  those  rations  which  most  closely  approached  the.  re- 
quirements of  the  above  standard  were  more  satisfactory  than  those 
which  showed  rather  marked  deviations,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
1913  experiment,  which  has  already  been  explained. 

In  all  four  experiments  with  mules  the  labor  record  is  very  satis- 
factory. The  average  amount  of  labor  per  mule  per  work  day  was 
8.06  hours  for  the  first  experiment ;  8.69  hours  for  the  second ;  8.43 
hours  for  the  third ;  and  8.25  hours  for  the  fourth.  In  all  the  trials 
the  mules  worked  an  average  of  more  than  90  percent  of  the  total 
number  of  work  days. 


422 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


[January, 


TABLE  3. — SUMMARY  OP  FEEDING  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  MULES 
Showing  Rations  Fed,  Average  Weight,  Feed  Consumption,  and  Work  per  Mule 


1912 

1913 

1914-15 

1916-17 

rGrain  

Ear  corn  % 

Ear  corn  % 

Ear  corn  % 

Ration  -i 

Oats  ^ 

Oats  % 

Oats  % 

Ear  corn 

1  Roughage  

Plnvpr   1/n 

Alfalfa  or 

A  If  o  Ifo    \/(. 

Timothy  ^ 

Timothy  }/? 

Length  of  trial,  days  

364 

140 

364 

361 

Weight: 
Av.  weight  at  beginning,  Ibs. 
Av  weight  at  close 

1337 
1428 

1401 
1374 

1349 
1315 

1290 
1343 

Gain  or  loss  

+91 

—27 

—33 

+54 

Av.  weight  during  trial  

1358 

1370 

1348 

1356 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Total  oats  eaten  

3437 
1718 

1120 
560 

3202 
1601 

4187 

Total  grain  eaten  

5155 

1680 

4803 

4187 

Av  grain  per  day  

14.16 

12.00 

13  20 

11.50 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  Ibs  

1.04 
4930 

.88 
1628 

.98 
4971 

.85 
5971 

Av  hay  per  day 

13.54 

11.62 

13  66 

16  40 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  of  labor.      .  .  . 

1.00 
2515 

.85 
1043 

1.01 

2628 

1.22 
2575 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

8.06 
23 

2863 

8.69 
9.5 

1451 

8.43 
21 

(») 

8.25 
27.5 

3000 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.14 

1.39 

0) 

1.17 

NOTE. — Records  of  each  individual  may  be  found  in  the  tables  in  the  Appen- 
dix, pages  424-427. 

JNo  records  were  obtained  during  the  1914-15  experiment. 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HOESES  AND  MULES 


423 


COST  OF  FEED 

Table  4  shows  the  cost  of  the  feed  f or  the  mules  for  all  the  experi- 
ments. It  is  constructed  in  the  same  way  as  the  table  of  feed  cost 
given  for  the  horses. 

Here,  too,  the  lowest  cost  per  day  is  for  the  1913  trial,  during  which 
time  the  ration  fed  was  not  sufficient  to  maintain  the  weights  of  the 
mules.  The  cost  in  this  experiment  would  of  course  be  larger  if  the 
feed  had  been  sufficient  in  quantity  to  maintain  the  weights  of  the 
animals. 


TABLE  4. — AVERAGE  TOTAL  AND  DAILY  COST  OP  FEED  FOR  MULES,  BASED  ON 

VARIOUS  PRICES 

(For  feed  prices  see  bottom  of  page) 


1912:    364  days 
Ear  corn  

49.10bu. 
53.71  bu. 
2.47  tons 

A 

$27.50 
21.48 
29.64 

B 

$31.92 
21.48 
34.58 

C 

$24.55 
17.18 
24.70 

D 

$49  .  10 
32.23 
39.52 

Oats  ...          

Clover  

Total  cost  

$78.62 
.216 

$87.98 
.242 

$66.43 
.183 

$120.85 
332 

Cost  per  day  

1913:     140  days 
Ear  corn  

16.00bu. 
17.50bu. 
.41  ton 
.41  ton 

A 

$  8.96 
7.00 
4.88 
6.51 

B 

$10.40 
7.00 
5.74 
5.74 

C 

$  8.00 
5.60 
4.10 
4.10 

D 

$16.00 
10.50 
6.56 
6.56 

Oats  

Clover  

Timothy  

Total  cost  

$27.35 
.195 

$28.88 
.206 

$21.80 
.155 

$39.62 
.283 

Cost  per  day  

1914-15:    364  days 
Ear  corn  

45.74bu. 
50.03bu. 
2.  49  tons 

A 

$25.62 
20.01 
39.84 

B 

$29.73 
20.01 
34.86 

C 

$22.87 
16.01 
29.88 

D 

$45.74 
30.02 
39.84 

Oats  

Alfalfa  and  timothy.  . 
Total  cost  

$85.47 
235 

$84.60 
.232 

$68.76 
.189 

$115.60 
.318 

Cost  per  day  

1916-17:    364  days 
Ear  corn  

59.81  bu. 
2.99  tons 

A 

$33.49 

47.84 

B 

$38.88 
41.86 

C 

$29.91 
35.88 

D 

$59.81 
47.84 

Alfalfa  

Total  cost  

$81.33 
223 

$80.74 
222 

$65.79 
.181 

$107.65 
295 

Cost  per  day  

Feed  Prices:                                                                    A 
Corn,  per  bushel  .                                       $    .5( 

BCD 

$              $    .65              $    .50             $  1.00 
)                   .40                    .32                  .60 
0               14.00                10.00               16.00 
)               14.00                lO.OOi             16.00 
3               14.00                12.  00               16.00 

Oats,  per  bushel  .4 

Clover,  per  ton  12.0 

Timothy,  per  ton  16.CM 

Alfalfa,  ner  ton.....                                                               16.0 

iln  the  1914-15  trial  the  timothy  and  alfalfa  were  figured  at  the  same  price  per  ton. 


APPENDIX 

A  summary  of  the  record  for  each  individual  in  these  experiments 
is  contained  in  the  following  pages. 


424 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


[January, 


TABLE  A. — SUMMARY  OF  1912  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  HORSES:  364  DAYS 
Ration:     ~2^  Ear  Corn,  %  Oats;  Clover 


Horses.     •  .                        

No.  51 

No.  52 

No.  85 

No.  86 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end             

1440 
1585 

1460 
1550 

1375 
1560 

1505 
1645 

Gain  

145 

90 

185 

140 

-  Av.  weight  during  trial  

1497 

1508 

1438 

1547 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  /6s  
Total  oats  eaten  

4192 
2096 

4260 
2130 

4276 
2138 

4873 
2436 

Total  grain  eaten  

6288 

6390 

6414 

7310 

Av.  grain  per  day 

17  27 

17  55 

17  64 

20  08 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  Ibs. 
Av.  hay  per  day  

1.15 

5096 
14  00 

1.16 

5075 
13  94 

1.23 

4998 
13.73 

1.30 

5835 
16  00 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  

.93 
2474 

.92 

2584 

.95 
2401 

1.03 
2552 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled 

7.92 
35 

2787 

8.28 
17 

2867 

7.69 
41 

2646 

8.17 
18 

2828 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.13 

1.11 

1.10 

1.11 

TABLE  B. — SUMMARY  OF  1913  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  HORSES: 
Ration:     %  Ear  Corn,  X  Oats;  1A  Clover,  1A  Timothy 


140  DAYS 


Horses 

No  86 

No   91 

No  87 

No    90 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  /6s  
Weight  at  end  

1600 
1560 

1470 
1500 

1630 
1570 

1610 
1635 

Gain  or  loss  

-40 

+30 

-60 

+25 

Av.  weight  during  trial  .    ... 

1575 

1492 

1585 

1608 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Z6s  
Total  oats  eaten  

1320 
659 

1497 
749 

1600 
800 

1596 
798 

Total  grain  eaten  . 

1979 

2246 

2400 

2394 

Av.  grain  per  day  

14.14 

16.04 

17.14 

17.10 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  /6s.  .  . 

.90 
2073 

1.08 
1962 

1.08 
2000 

1.06 
2142 

Av.  hay  per  day  

14.81 

14.01 

14.29 

15.30 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  ... 

.94 
1037 

.94 

812 

.90 
1062 

.95 
1048 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

8.64 
11 

1362 

6.77 
37 

1023 

8.85 
9 

1321 

8.73 
10 

1328 

Av.  miles  ner  hour  

1.31 

1.26 

1.24 

1.26 

198S] 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES 


425 


TABLE  C. — SUMMARY  OF  1914-15  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  HORSES:     364  DAYS 
Ration:     %  Ear  Corn,  %  Oats;  Alfalfa,  «r  ^  Timothy  and  %  Alfalfa 


Horses  

No.  95 

No.  91 

No.  87 

No.  90 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end 

1570 
1645 

1590 
1565 

1645 
1620 

1680 
1680 

Gain  or  loss  

+75 

—25 

—25 

Av.  weight  during  trial  .... 

1633 

1578 

1655 

1686 

Grain: 

Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Total  oats  eaten  .  .  . 

4362 
2181 

4374 
2187 

4341 
2170 

4426 
2213 

Total  grain  eaten  

6544 

6562 

6512 

6639 

Av.  grain  per  day  

17.98 

18.03 

17.89 

18.24 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  alfalfa  eaten,  Ibs  

1.10 

6083 

1.14 

2999 

1.08 
6291 

1.08 
3141 

Total  timothy  eaten 

2999 

3141 

Total  hay  eaten  

6083 

5998 

6291 

6282 

Av.  hay  per  day.  .  . 

16  71 

16  48 

17.28 

17.26 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  ... 

1.02 
2583 

1.04 
2595 

1.04 
2477 

1.02 
2415 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

8.28 

27 

8.31 
26 

7.94 
39 

7.74 
41 

TABLE  D. — SUMMARY  OF  1916-17  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  HORSES:  364  DAYS 

Ration:     Ear  Corn;  Alfalfa 


Horses  

No.  95 

No.  91 

No.  87 

No.  90 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end  

1670 
1680 

1595 
1580 

1600 
1665 

1680 
1740 

Gain  or  loss  

+10 

—15 

+65 

+60 

Av.  weight  during  trial  

1662 

1571 

1618 

1703 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Av.  ear  corn  per  day  

5512 
15.14 

5558 
15.27 

5886 
16.17 

6004 
16.49 

Av.  ear  corn  per  cwt.  per  day 

Alfalfa: 
Total  alfalfa  eaten,  Ibs.    .  .  . 

.91 
6430 

.97 
6446 

1.00 
7220 

.97 
7197 

Av.  alfalfa  per  day  

17.66 

17.71 

19.84 

19.77 

Av.  alfalfa  per  cwt.  per  day  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
.  Total  hours  labor  

1.06 
2495 

1.13 

2495 

1.23 
2539 

1.16 
2539 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

8.00 
32 

2966 

8.00 
32 

2966 

8.14 

27 

2955 

8.14 
27 

2955 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.19 

1.19 

1.17 

1.17 

426 


BULLETIN  No.  238 


TABLE  E. — SUMMARY  OP  1912  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  MULES: 
Ration:     X  Ear  Corn,  K  Oats;  Clover 


[January, 
364  DAYS 


Mules  

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No.  4 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end  

1360 
1440 

1370 
1465 

1315 
1380 

1305 
1430 

Gain  

80 

95 

65 

125 

Av.  weight  during  trial  

1381 

1376 

1327 

1351 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Total  oats  eaten  

3333 
1666 

3515 
1757 

3273 
1636 

3627 
1813 

Total  grain  eaten  

4999 

5272 

4909 

5441 

Av.  grain  per  day  

13  74 

14.49 

13  49 

14  95 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  Ibs  

.99 
5062 

1.05 
5070 

1.02 
4792 

1.10 
4796 

Av.  hay  per  day  

13.91 

13.93 

13.17 

13  18 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor    ... 

1.01 

2477 

1.01 
2601 

.99 
2523 

.97 
2461 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

7.94 
30 

2872 

8.34 
19 

3025 

8.09 
24 

2815 

7.89 
29 

2741 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.16 

1.16 

1.11 

1.11 

TABLE  F. — SUMMARY  OF  1913  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  MULES: 
Ration:     %  Ear  Corn,  K  Oats;  %  Clover,  J^  Timothy 


140  DAYS 


Mules  

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No  4 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end  

1405 
1375 

1410 
1355 

1370 
1355 

1420 
1410 

Gain  or  loss  

—30 

—55 

—15 

—10 

Av.  weight  during  trial  

1362 

1380 

1351 

1390 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Total  oats  eaten  

1071 
535 

1149 
575 

1085 
542 

1175 

588 

Total  grain  eaten  

1606 

1724 

1627 

1763 

Av.  grain  per  day  

11.47 

12.31 

11.62 

12  59 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  hay  eaten,  Ibs  

.84 
1628 

.89 
1628 

.86 
1622 

.91 
1633 

Av.  hay  per  day  

11.63 

11.63 

11.59 

11.66 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  

.85 
1066 

.84 
966 

.86 
1065 

.84 
1075 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel: 
Total  miles  traveled  

8.88 
10 

1383 

8.05 
20 

1283 

8.88 
4 

1564 

8.95 
4 

1575 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.30 

1.33 

1.46 

1.46 

1928} 


FEEDING  FARM  WORK  HORSES  AND  MULES 


427 


TABLE  G. — SUMMARY  OF  1914-15  FEEDING!  EXFE-IIMEST  WITH  MULES:  364  DAYS 
Ration:     %  Ear  Corn,  %  Oats;  Alfalfa,  or  Yz  Timothy,  Y2  Alfalfa 


Mules  

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No  4 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end  

1315 
1330 

1380 
1320 

1325 
1305 

1375 
1305 

Gain  or  loss  

+15 

—60 

—  20 

—  70 

Av.  weight  during  trial  .  .  . 

1363 

1353 

1320 

1355 

Grain: 
Total  corn  eaten,  Ibs  

3381 

3317 

2996 

3114 

Total  oats  eaten  .... 

1690 

1658 

1498 

1557 

Total  grain  eaten  

5072 

4976 

4494 

4671 

Av.  grain  per  day  

13  93 

13  67 

12  34 

12  83 

Av.  grain  per  cwt.  per  day  .  . 

Hay: 
Total  alfalfa  eaten,  Ibs  
Total  timothy  eaten  

1.02 
5244 

1.01 

2585 
2585 

.93 

4676 

.95 

2397 
2397 

Total  hay  eaten  

5244 

5170 

4676 

4794 

Av.  hay  per  day  

14  40 

14  20 

12  84 

13  17 

Av.  hay  per  cwt.  per  day.  .  .  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  .  .  . 

1.05 

2668 

1.04 
2520 

.97 

2665 

.97 
2661 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

8.55 
16 

8.07 
37 

8.54 
15 

8.52 
16 

TABLE  H. — SUMMARY  OF  1916-17  FEEDING  EXPERIMENT  WITH  MULES:  364  DAYS 
Ration:     Ear  Corn;  Alfalfa 


Mules  

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No.  4 

Weight: 
Weight  at  beginning,  Ibs  
Weight  at  end  

1295 
1375 

1290 
1390 

1270 
1240 

1305 
1370 

Gain  or  loss  

+80 

+100 

—30 

+65 

Av.  weight  during  trial  .  .  . 

1360 

1364 

1298 

1374 

Grain: 
Total  ear  corn  eaten,  Ibs  
Av.  ear  corn  per  day  

4220 
11  59 

4222 
11  60 

4030 
11  07 

4276 
11  75 

Av.  ear  corn  per  cwt.  per  day 

Alfalfa: 
Total  alfalfa  eaten,  Ibs  

.85 
6114 

.85 
6114 

.85 
5564 

.85 
6091 

Av.  alfalfa  per  day  

16  80 

16  80 

15  29 

16  73 

Av.  alfalfa  per  cwt.  per  day  . 

Hours  of  labor: 
Total  hours  labor  

1.23 
2535 

1.23 
2535 

1.18 
2616 

1.22 
2616 

Av.  hours  labor  per  work  day 
Number  of  idle  work  days.  .  . 

Travel- 
Total  miles  traveled  

8.13 
34 

3062 

8.13 
34 

3062 

8.38 
21 

2938 

8.38 
21 

2938 

Av.  miles  per  hour  

1.21 

1  21 

1  12 

1.12 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


